Fearless Brand Leaders: NHL

Ryan Gill Interviews Brian Jennings

August 17th 2016

Estimated 1 Minute Read

Sport

Check out this interview we did with Brian Jennings, the CMO of the NHL. If you want to learn about how the NHL has reinvented the sport of hockey and brought fans closer than ever to their favourite game, this is an interview you will definitely want to watch. This video highlights what it takes to truly create a fearless brand from a beloved national sport.

Proud stewards of a 90-year heritage on ice, the NHL is considered one of the four major sporting leagues in North America with legions of fans across their 30 team network.

Here’s some of the key takeaways from the interview:

0:52 Brian explains the meaning behind the statement: “We don’t own the game of hockey, we serve it”.

2:03 Brian discusses some of the challenges the NHL brand has faced over the past few decades.

2:51 What risk and innovation mean to a business and how that ultimately applies to the NHL as a media company.

3:57 Brian explains how the NHL has managed to bring fans even closer to their favorite game.

5:02 How the NHL has managed to capture the American audience despite fearsome competition with other popular sport media brands.

Make sure you take care of your core audience first and foremost. They’ll be your greatest ambassadors.

Brian Jennings is the Chief Marketing Officer of the NHL. Brian is responsible for the NHL’s global marketing strategies, including consumer product licensing and design business that generates more than $1Billion annually. Brian also leads the Integrated Marketing team responsible for ensuring consistent and strategic delivery of key messages and further extending the reach and pro- motion of the NHL brand. Brian’s strong leadership and commitment to the NHL brand has created solid League-wide relationships that provide deeper integration of the brand and product lines among all of the NHL’s business partners including, TV rights holders, licensees and sponsors, and the Clubs.

Ryan GillRyan began his professional life in digital marketing. His first company, Suitcase Interactive, was a consistent best-digital-agency award winner. And his tenacity and forward thinking also led him, personally, to being awarded a coveted place on the auspicious 40 under 40 list. (Notice that we're not telling you how many years ago that was, we're kinda attached to our kneecaps ; ) Those seminal years also led Ryan to the enlightenment that the whole concept of advertising and digital agencies was dead. From there it was a short putt to the birth of Cult, one of North America's first true engagement agencies. As Cult's President, his legacy as a pioneering thinker has blossomed from pushing pixels, to pushing forward what marketing actually means. Ryan then founded The Gathering in 2012, an annual international event to honor cult-like brands that put the generation of movements before the creation of ad campaigns. The Gathering is now widely acknowledged to be one of North America's premier annual marketing conferences. And it's an idea that has introduced Cult to brands like Keurig, Converse, Airbnb, UFC, Las Vegas Tourism and Red Bull, among many others… hey, there's only so many names you can drop in one bio. Never one to whine about the status quo, but rather put his energy into finding a better way, Ryan’s latest innovation is the founding of a whole new operating model for marketers, both on the client side and in the industry that serves them. Called Communo, this tech-enabled work model is an incomparable brain trust of talent for brands, a human resources platform for marketing professionals, and an unprecedented business development engine for both. In his "spare time" Ryan continues his strong commitment to giving back, both at home in Calgary, and around the world. He spearheads Cult's ongoing monthly commitment to Ronald McDonald House and continues to lead Project Smile, the international relief organization he founded over a decade ago. He even managed to find some spare, spare time to co-author three editions of Fix: Break The Addictions That Are Killing Brands, Cult's thought leadership book that's changing the way CEOs and CMOs see the marketing function.